2026 Controllers Conference  (CCA-CONF)

8.00 CPE Credit Hours

Agenda

7:30-8:20a.m. General Session (50 mins) 
Controlling Management Continuity Risk: Ready for the Next Change in Leadership? (A&A)
Speaker: Tracy Cooper, CPA, CFE
Does your organization risk operational disruption due to a key personnel loss? Are your internal auditors and risk management personnel routinely assessing your exposure to losing key skills and talent? Is your Auditor satisfactorily assessing succession and planning risks? What will happen when the next leader takes over? The math is straightforward, the sixty-year-old leader will leave the organization and today's thirty-year-old will be on tomorrow's leadership team. What does the younger generation want? What can we do today to protect our business and value? Are our people engaged? Procrastination is not a sound strategy. Leadership will change. Learn how to analyze the risks and prepare in advance, so the organization will be properly positioned. This session could help your organization prevent its next crisis.

8:20 – 8:30 a.m. Break (10 min)

8:30 – 9:45 a.m. General Session (75 min)
Dealing with Ever Changing Accounting Standards and Other Demands (A&A)
Speaker: Bob Mims, CPA
GAAP is changing at an increasing rate. Financial leaders are faced with the dual challenge of navigating evolving accounting standards while strategically guiding their organizations toward sustainable growth and profitability. What are the newer accounting changes that will impact professional accounting? This seminar will equip finance professionals with the critical skills and practical insights needed to effectively manage the complexities of ever-changing accounting standards and upgrade your essential strategic planning skills. Strategies that do not keep pace with the market are doomed to fail. If we do not keep up, our successor will.

9:45 – 9:55 a.m. Break (10 min)

9:55 – 11:10 a.m. General Session (75 min) 
Successful Systems Implementations: Planning is the Key!
Speaker: Tracy Cooper, CPA, CFE
System changes are common, so why does seemingly every new system update or installation have multiple, new problems? We will review the causes and effects, including a short-term outlook. We will focus on the best practices of successful organizations, specifically the one key task for success—proper planning. What are the steps to take? Which functions need to be involved? How to reduce risk? These actions can be applied to small system changes, system upgrades, or large ERP systems. Do not make the same mistake over and over—learn from others who have paid the hefty price.

11:10 – 11:50 a.m. Lunch Break (40 mins) 

11:50 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. General Session (60 min) 
Systemic Risk: Six Mega-Trends Facing Organizations Today (A&A)
Speaker: Bob Mims, CPA
Worldwide trends can impact our business. In general, accountants are so detail oriented that we sometimes don't pay attention to the "bigger picture" and don't see the impact emerging business models, innovative technologies or global competition have on our organizations. This session discusses six mega-trends and how they can create both hazards and opportunities for your company

12:50 – 1:00 p.m. Break (10 min)

1:00 – 2:15 p.m. General Session (75 min) 
Open Book Management: Making it Work in the Real World
Speaker: Tracy Cooper, CPA, CFE
Some organizations create extraordinary success by broadly sharing financial information with team members at all levels. Others have tried and failed. This session discusses how real-world organizations have transformed their cultures using open book management. You will gain insight into what works and what does not, learning how giving team members a stake in the action can motivate everyone to create company performance far beyond anyone's expectations.

2:15 – 2:25 p.m. Break (10 min)

2:25 – 3:30 p.m. General Session (60 min) 
Business Ethics Don't Exist: The Only Ethics Rule You Need to Know
Speaker: Bob Mims, CPA
Most ethics courses focus on unethical individuals and their terrible misdeeds. We don't need another course on lessons from Enron or individuals committing fraud. Most unethical failures result from unethical individuals. Instead, this session will focus on how good people can do better, why there is no such thing as business ethics and why we only need one rule to lead ethical lives.

3:30 p.m. – Adjourn

Designed For

Current or aspiring controllers, financial managers and CFOs in business/industry

Objective

Learn more about the topics vital to controllers, CFOs, and other corporate financial managers.

Highlights

Designed specifically for you as a finance leader, this conference will address leadership continuity, evolving accounting standards, system implementation challenges, enterprise-wide risk, ethical decision-making, and strategies for building engaged, high-performing organizations.

Prerequisites

None

Advanced Preparation

None

Developer
The Knowledge Institute

Presenters
Bob Mims, The Knowledge Institute
Tracy Cooper, The Knowledge Institute

Level of Knowledge
Update